Safe Zone Program

The Lock Haven University Safe Zone program is designed to provide students, faculty
and staff with a safe and welcoming environment on campus. This is done by helping
to develop allies on campus. An ally is a member of the dominant group who joins with
members of an oppressed group to fight for and work toward equality. Most people develop
an ally identity over time; a four step model is used to explain this process - awareness,
knowledge, skills, and action. Those people who are ready may go through training
to become Safe Zone Allies.

The Safe Zone Program focuses on increasing allies' skills and willingness to act.
In ally development generally, the skills step is teaching people the skills necessary
to communicate their knowledge to others. This may be educational communication to
various constituencies, but it is also the skills to communicate with LGBTQ students
who may be in crisis and need resources. Allies are not counselors but can offer
support and information.

The final step in ally development is action. Although the Safe Zone program will
include discussions of action in the training workshop, action is something that is
inherently individual. The ally must choose to perform some behavior. People with
awareness, knowledge, and skills that do not act are not allies. In fact, action is
vital for allies to the LGBTQ communities because of the strong pressure LGBTQ people
still face to hide their true identities. It is the actions of allies that help develop
an environment in which those who identify with the LGBTQ communities can feel safe.

You can generally recognize Safe Zone Allies by the logo that is on their door, bulletin
board, or desk.

If you are interested in the Safe Zone Allies training, please contact Dr. Jennifer
Deitloff at jmd240@lhup.edu or Dr. Lisette Schillig at lschilli@lhup.edu.

Safe Zone is a program of the President's Commission on LGBTQ Affairs.